- Allison Gilgenbach checked into a Florida hotel at Universal Studios ahead of Hurricane Milton.
- The mom and her daughters, 11 and 8, intend to continue their vacation at the resort and feel safe.
- They brought battery lights and had extra food and water delivered by InstaCart.
This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Allison Gilgenbach, 45, a training director for an IT company from Cleveland. It has been edited for length and clarity.
After we entered our hotel room at Universal Orlando Resort in Florida, my daughters, Reagan, 11, and Ryann, 8, and I looked for the nearest exits and flights of stairs.
The last time Reagan checked the weather app, Hurricane Milton was predicted to hit central Florida around 5 a.m. Thursday. We wanted to find the quickest route to safety if we needed to evacuate the room and the elevators didn’t work.
I packed battery-operated lights and candles in our luggage and six battery-powered phone chargers for my phone. The hotel seems to have a lot of food available, but I placed an InstaCart order for a case of water and snacks like Lunchables, just in case.
It’s our first time at Universal. We booked our vacation several months ago between Reagan and Ryann’s birthdays. When she heard about the potential hurricane, my travel agent asked if we wanted to cancel or change our dates.
I extended our trip by 2 days
I’m normally a bit of a worry wart, but for some reason, this didn’t make me very anxious. The path is unpredictable, and I feel this area and the hotel’s structure are prepared for hurricanes. If there’s anywhere to be, it’s probably one of these resorts.
I’d been monitoring Facebook posts in Disney groups, and some people on the platform had said the same. They said that, typically, this is where many folks from the coast, such as Tampa, will come inland to hunker down.
I originally booked the trip for Tuesday to Saturday. However, we didn’t want to be stuck in our room all vacation, so after checking that many activities would still be held at the hotel, we decided to extend it to Monday.
We waited in line for two hours to check in. The card machines went down for a little bit, so they had to do everything by hand. People were trying to check out early, and at the same time, others were showing up, looking for a room.
The park was scheduled to close at 2 p.m. Wednesday, so we made the most of the rides on Tuesday afternoon. We’d planned to go to the stores at Universal CityWalk after breakfast, but it was pouring, so we returned to our hotel instead.
The employees organized a ton of activities for the kids, such as coloring and crafting. They also had movies playing, such as the “Harry Potter” series. But we’ve been in the arcade pretty much all day. We’ve spent about $300 each on the arcade machines alone.
My kids are taking advantage of our situation. “Can we get more ice cream?” they said.
The staff at our hotel have reassured us
I don’t mind the arcade expense because we would have been spending money in the park regardless. My parents — who were a bit worried about us at first — sent the girls some money by Zelle so they could play a few extra games.
My daughters aren’t scared. They’ve seen me ask the staff, who live nearby, whether they’re nervous. They said no because they’ve been through it before, and they’ll keep everybody informed.
The girls and I have some experience ourselves, albeit not directly with hurricanes. We’ve had some tornado winds, straight-line winds, and pretty bad thunderstorms in Ohio. We all go to our basements and hunker down.
Still, I just pray that Milton is short-lived.
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